The List: 23 Jan 1987 (Issue 33)

Peggy Sue Got Married (PG) (Francis Coppola, US, 1986) Kathleen turner, Nicolas Cage, Catherine Hicks. 103 mins. Francis Coppola‘s lightest and most likeable lilm in along while, Peggy Sue displays the kind at tender-hearted regard lor its characters and their modest preoccupations that could have salvaged One From The Heart lrom its smothering technological excesses. Everyone dreams at a second chance to right the wrongs oi the past; silencing words that should never have been spoken and voicing emotions that never gained expression. Peggy Sue’s lelicitous screenplay allows its endearing heroine just such an opportunity.

A middle-aged mother at two', Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) gloomin laces the prospect oi divorce lrorn her devoted but dopey husband Charlie (Nicolas Cage). The luture may hold little lor her and now the past also appears to have been a mistake. Trying to cheer hersell up, she wipes away the tears, squeezes into her old prom dress and reluctantly heads lor her 25th High School Class Reunion. Tired and emotional, giddy with drink and nostalgia, she collapses and regains consciousness in 1959. She has the body at an energetic teenage girl but retains the wisdom and experience accumulated in the intervening quarter ol a century. The two make tor a potent mix and she eagerly grasps the moment to try and do things dillerently.

Peggy Sue has been described as a Back To The Future lor grown-ups and it does winnineg blend elements at that lilm, The Wizard 0t 02 and It’s A

Wonderlul Lite into an irresistibly sloppy Valentine tothe enchantment ol pure cinema lantasy. However, perhaps as a rellection ol Coppola’s presence, there is a darker edge to this lantasy. Peggy Sue may lind joy and wonderment in linding her parents looking so young, in linding thetime to tell hergrandparents that she loves them in belriending the school swot and in dating other boys apart lrom Charlie, but her late is immutable and she cannot change the hand that destiny has dealt her. Belore the cop-out ol a delirioust happy ending, Peggy Sue seems to be heading tor a more downbeat conclusion ol people. having to take responsibility lor life as

A carefully measured tragic romance suffused with images of awe-inspiring beauty and topped by another flawless performance from Streep. Edinburgh; EUFS O Pale Rider ( 15) (Clint Eastwood. US, 1985) Clint Eastwood. Michael Moriarty. Carrie Snodgress. 116 mins. Back in the saddle for the first time in nine years. Clint dispenses rough justice as an avenging angel defending the rights ofa community of prospectors.

it is and notas it might be. Peggy Sue is not quite the lilm it might have been then, but it still packs an entertaining wallop with a warm-hearted view oi everyday humanity and a spritely sense at culture shock as the harsh, sell-centred complacency ol Reagan’s America reverts to the apparently sunnier and simpler paternalism ol the Eisenhower era. Miss Turner, an actress for all genres, intelligently conveys both the exuberant lirst blush oi youth and the careworn passage 01 time. Throughout, she positively radiates star quality and could be an unbeatable contender in this year’s Oscar stakes. (Allan Hunter)

o Runaway Train ( l8) (Andrei Konchalovsky. US. 1985)Jon Voight. Eric Roberts, Rebecca de Morney. 111 mins. Two escapees from a high-security prison in Alaska hitch a ride to freedom on a train that is out ofcontrol. Part symbolic drama, part slam-bang actioner, this is a no-nonsense movie ofwide appeal. Edinburgh; Filmhouse

Fellini in ancient Rome as the idiosyncratic dreamer serves up a gaudy, bawdy pageant ofthe colourful and the bizarre when he recounts the homosexual relationship between Encolpius and Ascyltus. Visually ravishing, totally self-indulgent surrealism that will either appeal or appal. Beware the

atrocious dubbing. Glasgow; GFI‘

o Scorsese Lecture Sun 25 Jan, sees and rare and cherishable visit by one of the greatest talents working in American cinema today to give a personal lecture at Edinburgh Filmhouse. Martin Scorsese will discuss his work, including Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and his latest film. the as yet unseen Colour ofMoney with Paul Newman updating his Fast Eddie role in the sequel to The Hustler, and several extracts will be shown. Tickets sold out in under fifteen minutes, such was the interest shown by the capital’s moviegoing public, and one hopes for a night to remember. Edinburgh; Filmhouse

James Stewart. 99 mins. Legendary gunfighter Wayne is dying of cancer but his reputation and the trigger-happy local residents will not let him pass gently into the night. One ofthe great American films of the 1970’s with superlative performances all-round and the parallels with Wayne’s own life making his elegaic farewell almost unbearably poignant. The Duke‘s Valedictory film. Edinburgh; EUFS 0 Silverado (PG) Lawrence Kasdan. US. 1985‘) Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover. 130 mins. Assorted travellers in the West join forces to rid Silverado of its crooked sheriff. An attempt to return to the dusty shoot-em-up ofyears gone by provides a glossary of your favourite scenes-gunfights, saloon Showdowns, stampedes er al— but in trying to be all things to all critters. ends up a little too much of a good thing. Edinburgh; EUFS o StrangerThan Paradise (15) (Jim Jarmusch, US. 1984) John Lurie, Eszter Balint. Richard Edson. 89 mins. Jim Jarmusch‘s marvellous first feature has New York hepcats Lurie and the transcendently dumb Eddie faced with the former‘s cousin Eva from Budapest and a resulting visit to her Formidable Aunt Lottie in snowy Pennsylvania. Expressiver photographed. adorably acted. wonderfully scripted exercise in hilariously minimalist comic cool. Ifyou enjoy Down By Law. don‘t hesitate to go and see this as well. Glorious stuff. ‘ Edinburgh; Filmhouse o A Streetcar Named Desire ( l8) (Elia Kazan, US, 1951) Marlon Brando. Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter. 121 mins. Brando‘s bellowing. animalistic Stanley Kowalski squares off against Leigh's fluttering. fading Southern belle in this electrifying version of the Tennessee Williams play set in an imaginatively unreal New Orleans tenement. A passionate. complex Beauty and the Beast-nightmare of repression and desire. Glasgow; GET 0 Sweet Liberty(PG) (Alan Alda.